Can P

rim

e

Min

iste

rs

Gove

rn?

The elusive search for executive power

Patrick Weller Griffith University October 2013

The H

andove

r

Presi

dent

Trum

an

on E

isenhow

er

‘He’ll sit here and he’ll

say: ‘Do this, do that’. And

nothing will happen. Poor

Ike, it won’t be anything

like the army. He will find

it very frustrating… I sit

here all day trying to

persuade people to do

things they ought to have

sense enough to do without my persuading

them…That’s all the

powers of the Presidency

amount to’.

Bri

tain

He did everything alone…whilst

those ciphers of the Cabinet

signed everything he dictated…

without the least share of

honour or power…It was known

that this minister, having

obtained a sole influence over

all our public counsels, has not

only got the sole direction of all

public affairs but has got every

officer of state removed that

would not follow his direction,

even in the affairs belonging to

his own proper department.

(Samuel Sandys, House of

Commons 1741)

Bri

tain A cabinet of cyphers

and a government of

one man alone’(Granville on Pitt

1806)

Bri

tain

‘…sole Minister and decidedly superior to

all…. Ministers dare not have an opinion,

but must move either

to the right or the left

as this Dictator thinks

proper’.(Duke of

Wellington, PM 1828-30)

Canada

The discussion was lengthy

and eventually became so

wearisome that I interposed, informing my

colleagues that they had

made me sufficiently

acquainted with their views,

that the duty of decision

rested with me, and that I

would subsequently make

them acquainted with my

conclusion.(Robert Borden, PM,

WWI)

Canada

The story went around

that when Bennett was seen mumbling to

himself he was holding

a cabinet meeting; ‘he

was not above asking

the opinions of others,

he was just above accepting them’.(R. B.Bennett, PM

1930s)

Aust

ralia

Who decided now? Why,

that modern autocrat, the

premier. Why should the

direct representatives of

the people delegate to one

man that power and those

responsibilities with which

they have been entrusted

by the people?(Australian Constitutional

Convention Debates,

September 1897)

Gove

rnin

g

Politics finds its sources

not only in power, but

also in uncertainty – men

collectively wondering

what to do….. Governments not only

‘power’, they also puzzle.

Policy making is a form of

collective puzzlement on

society’s behalf: it entails

both deciding and knowing.(Hugh Heclo, 1972)

The jo

b

desc

ripti

on

There are lots of things people want you to do, and lots of

things you should do,

and any number of things you can do, but

very few things you have to do. It’s up to

you; you are the boss.(Bernard Woolley in

‘Yes, Prime Minister’)

The C

halle

nges

Scheduling: the prerogatives Choice: the priorities

Trust: limited Information: uncertain,

untested, ambiguous Time pressures: often

driven by external events

Assistance: PMO and APS,

using modern technology

The s

tages

on

whic

h P

Ms

act

Cabinet: support, policy

coherence and ambition

Party: nervous and ideological Parliament: contested

Media: antagonistic Electorate: intractable

States: uncooperative

Global community: the

challenge of the middle(?)

power

PM

s and P

uzz

ling

Non-sequential, can occur in any order

Defining TrustingKnowingDecidingPersuading Selling

Alm

ighty

?

The image of prime ministers is one of great

power. That picture is

true if the individual has

the powers of persuasion, the skills of

manipulation, the vision

to direct, the ambition

to drive and the energy

to work. Then, and only

then, may the prime

minister turn all that

potential into results